A 500k drop in subs is huge. Especially if they are in the U.S. or Europe.

Not really when you consider that this drop is from the position at the start of MOP rather than the end of Cata. I can't remember what Cata's subs were the last time they were announced but i'm fairly sure they were lower than 9.6 million.

Loads of old players come back to try a new expansion for a month or 2 and then stop playing again.... This is no reflection on the quality of the game.

Edit: I just looked at the wiki for subscriber numbers and 7 weeks before MOP was released (August 2nd) wow had 9.1 million subscribers. So you can say there's been a loss of 500k subscribers.... but you could also say there's been a gain of 500k depending when you take the original count from.

I only buy time cards now to play whatever the latest tear in the LFR is then i stop , this expac isnt alt friendly, requires more points to upgrade heirloom gear, and they centered the game around dailies and more dailies, i hate questing, i hate dailies, i just wana run dungeons and gear up, you really cant do that this time, plus the game mechanics feel old , nothing really feels exciting anymore, i will wait until a few weeks before the next expac, then i will buy a time card gear up and then wait till the end of that one, besides with all the video leaks and updates here , we are ahead of any surprises, the game just feels "meh" anymore

Got any breakdown on sub numbers per market / location ? I've not seen any such numbers released so I suspect you are pulling these numbers out of your.... well you know.

---------- Post added 2013-02-08 at 02:04 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Udderpowered

That was such a beautiful bit of ownage that I think we all need to take a step back and admire it for a few seconds.

WoW is still doing extremely well, but pretending losing half a mil players is nothing is equally stupid as saying WoW is dying. 500k is the whole playerbase of some MMO's.

I'd be curious to see numbers for sub drops from the start of each expansion to 6 months in. I'm fairly sure every xpac has experienced a drop after it's high point at release. Maybe not BC because that was a time when the game was still growing it's subs base.

In your case and maybe top end raiders in a race. 16/16H this last week finally and many of us never bothered with rep or dailies. Again, it is optional and not required. It is also a bonus chance at loot and people should be expected to put in a bit of time or effort to receive it.

---------- Post added 2013-02-08 at 01:44 AM ----------

Which could also include many people who have signed up since then as well. Your argument works both ways. Regardless of price, it still sold 12M copies.

B/s. Stop telling people what's optional or not for them, that's different for everyone. And good for you being proud that you finally cleared the content, but for those of us who take it seriously and cleared it weeks ago, optional doesn't exist, and that's the end of it. If any of our raiders is caught not doing their reps or capping valor, there's going to be a problem. Thankfully, everyone is fully committed.

It's tiresome to hear this "optional" vs "mandatory" argument. It's great that you don't care enough to do whatever you can to be at your best for your raids, that's fantastic and tbh, great for you that your guild puts up with that semi-dedication. But for tons of us, it's not, and we'll be putting up with the shit Blizz shoves through our throat no matter what so we can do what we care about a lot to the fullest. That is how at ilevel 508 I'm still doing random dungeons every day, LFR, and frigging dailies even though I'm exalted thrice over. For people like us, raiding is their favourite past time and we'll do whatever it takes to do it properly - just like buying a new racket for your tennis sports is "optional", but it sure as hell will improve your performance.

Besides, even "optional" does not excuse content being crap. Not saying Mop's content is crap (just the valor grind I have an issue with really), but that's how some people feel.

For that matter, the entire frigging game is optional, I don't even get why this argument exists in the first place. Content exists to be done, when people feel they hate the majority of the content I think they have a right to complain.

---------- Post added 2013-02-08 at 03:21 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Udderpowered

That was such a beautiful bit of ownage that I think we all need to take a step back and admire it for a few seconds.

WoW is still doing extremely well, but pretending losing half a mil players is nothing is equally stupid as saying WoW is dying. 500k is the whole playerbase of some MMO's.

Sure, it sucks, but in the big image of things in WOW, it's but a comma in the total amount of players and I don't think Blizzard is terribly fussed. Besides, declining subs at the end of a patch have pretty much been a trend since forever.

20 years from now there will still be people playing this game. I haven't touched it since 2011 december and don't plan to anymore tho'. Dead realm, asking extra fee for transfers, constant gear resets etc. Not my thing anymore.

The thing with MoP, is either people loving it, or hate it. I can't see MoP gaining numbers at all, its going to keep sliding.

I can see the next announcement being much lower tbh.
To have closed your account by Dec 31st, you would have needed to unsub by the end of Nov. The way the raids where gated, it wasn't until Nov 20th that all were even opened. So most people would have held off quitting until after that.

How can the worst game ever made be the best selling also? Just goes to show if Blizard puts their name on a pile of poo it will sell.

someone has never played superman 64.

honestly i played diablo 2 and diablo 3 back to back neither felt like bad games were they great games? i wouldnt say so but they were definitely good games and diablo 2 was far from what people told me it was going to be

---------- Post added 2013-02-07 at 09:54 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Aquamonkey

WoW East doesn't pay by the month, they pay by the hour. Buy 1 hr in a quarter and they count you as a sub.

it says on what is counted as a sub that its only if theyve played within the past 30 days. not the entire quarter

"I was a normal baby for 30 seconds, then ninjas stole my mamma" - Deadpool
"so what do we do?" "well jack, you stand there and say 'gee rocket raccoon I'm so glad you brought that Unfeasibly large cannon with you..' and i go like this BRAKKA BRAKKA BRAKKA" - Rocket Raccoon

Comments like these make me facepalm so hard... You even go and show how stupid the argument is on your own post.
5% is relative, like all percentages and as such, useless.

Bus with 20 people in it crashes and 1 dies. Is it a big deal? Sad but not that big of a deal. It's 5%.
What if 5% of your countrys population was to die? World War II saw the death of 2,5% of world population or over 60 million in numbers. Big deal? Apparently by you it's meaningless.

What matters is the absolute amount. 500k players is a huge amount as is the money lost with them. There's no way around it. Additional players don't become worth less the more you have. That's a ridiculouss thought. 500k when going from 10m to 9,5 are pretty much just as important as going from 1m to 0,5m even tho the percentages are 5% vs 50%. Money matters.

Is it the death of WoW? Of course not. Will it change anything? Most likely. Guys with the suits don't like losses of any kind and they are pretty much bound to at least try to stop the bleeding. How does it effect us? Nobody knows.

I guess we can be certain now that WoW will never be above 11 million subscribers again. I mean, I can't think of any feature that could ramp up the subscribers and make people say "ok its time to go back to WoW". Not even the character remodels which is their strongest known card right now.
But hey, I still can enjoy the game. And MoP has been the best expansion story-wise. I' ll keep playing at least until I get bored and unsubscribe again like I did back at the start of Cataclysm.